Naples sets aside $10,000 to buy furniture for a new mayor, is that the norm?

Naples Mayor Bill Barnett at his office inside City Hall on August 12, 2011. The city of Naples is requesting $10,000 next year to buy new furniture for the mayor's office, to replace Barnett's furniture when the new mayor comes in. When Barnett moved in, he brought most of his own furniture to the Mayor's office. Greg Kahn/Staff

Georgia Hiller sits during a presentation to the Chamber after getting sworn in as Collier County Commissioner representing District 2. Hiller Collier County Commissioner representing District 2 was sworn in to office at the Collier County commissioner chamber on December 14, 2010. Members of the North Naples Fire and Rescue District served as color guard for the ceremony. Staff\Manuel Martinez

NAPLES - A new mayor in 2012 means Naples officials may need to make a trip to the furniture store before the swearing-in ceremony.

City officials have requested a one-time capital expense of $10,000 in fiscal 2011-12 to replace the furniture in the mayor's office. The request, according to a preliminary draft of the budget, is needed "to replace the mayor's (personal) furniture when a newly elected mayor takes office in 2012."

The mayor is the only elected official who has a private office. The remaining six council members share office space on the second floor of City Hall.

"The furniture in the office is the mayor's (personally)," said Ann Marie Ricardi, the city's finance director. "So when he leaves in February, it will leave a vacant office."

Mayor Bill Barnett said he moved a lot of the furniture to City Hall in 2004. He had an office on Fifth Avenue South at the time and decided to move the furniture rather than get rid of it or put it in storage.

Barnett was first elected in 1996. He served one, four-year term before he was elected again in 2004 and 2008. He cannot run for mayor again in 2012 because of term limits.

"When I came in in 1996, the furniture was circa-1950s style," he said. "We had to put some basics in there, obviously."

The city spent $4,200 on furniture for the office in 1996. Some of that furniture was sent to auction in June 2002, Ricardi said.

Officials in both Bonita Springs and Lee County said they don't have money in the fiscal 2012 budget to replace furniture in elected officials' offices.

Lee County government has reduced its workforce, and Winton said there's a lot of unused furniture that has been placed in storage through the years.

"I suppose a commissioner could say, ‘what do we have in surplus?'" Winton said. "(But) the offices tend to look the same commissioner to commissioner over the years."

That isn't the case in Collier County.

Commissioner Georgia Hiller redecorated her office after she was elected late last year.

Hiller couldn't be reached for comment for this story, but in a December e-mail she said she bought her own furniture, carpeting and blinds. Hiller also said she bought paint.

"When I'm done, I'll spend about $2,000 on my own," she said in the email. "(I) needed an office that was simple, functional and uncluttered. I'm spartan."

The county, she said, planned to paint and double- steam clean the carpeting before she moved in.

"The other commissioners all have their own way of decorating their offices," she wrote. "I was encouraged to personalize ... so I did!"

The money for furniture may be in the budget, but Barnett said that doesn't necessarily mean it will be spent.

Barnett brought in several pieces of furniture when he was elected, including couches and a conference table, and said "there's no guarantee" he will take it all with him when he leaves early next year.

There's also no guarantee the city will spend $10,000 on office furniture. Ricardi said she picked the sum as a placemarker so the city has enough money if it needs to purchase furniture.